Michelle Obama opens new Twitter account

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (R) wave as they board Air Force One on January 5, 2013 upon departure from Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Michelle Obama's office said Thursday it had opened a Twitter account, as the US

Michelle Obama's office said Thursday it had opened a Twitter account, as the US first lady turned 49.

The account is @FLOTUS, the acronym for First Lady of the United States, and it will be administered by the first lady's staff.

Tweets penned by the first lady herself will bear her initials -- mo.

As of midday Thursday, the account had just over 16,000 followers. That compares to 2.64 million for @MichelleObama, which opened in January 2012 and was run by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign team.

Tweets from the @MichelleObama account have been infrequent since her husband won the election on November 6.

The first utterance Thursday from @FLOTUS urged followers to wish Mrs Obama a happy birthday.

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